For many suburbanites, success is sometimes measured by one's ability to keep up with the Joneses.  For me, the cliché changes only slightly – to keeping up with the Christines.  My friend and colleague Christine Bowers of the World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog has an enviable tendency to scoop me on stories I've been meaning to write.  It's happened twice in the past few days: first, Christine reviewed two books I've read and have been meaning to comment on; then today, she updated her blogroll, a task I've been meaning to do for a while now (and just completed).  Anyway, my hat's off to you, Christine.  Go read the PSD Blog if you don't already – and keep reading to hear what I have to say about Make Poverty Business, You Can Hear Me Now, and which new blogs are worth reading and tracking in the BOP universe.

Books are a tricky subject.  BOP books are a trickier subject, since it's difficult to be groundbreaking unless you have a huge amount of new data or a wildly different strategic innovation.  Peter Wilson and Craig Wilson (no relation, I think) attempt to be groundbreaking in their new book, Make Poverty Business.  Unfortunately, their well-meaning attempt falls well short of success.  I received a copy of the Wilsons' manuscript some months ago, and gave it a close read.  I kept waiting for some sort of new theory, example, strategy, or data – but as I read, none came. 

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